Posts by JamesThomas

29

Musing over What is Karma, Rebirths, and the Illusions of the Senses

by frankiespeakin in

i have finally had a little time to pause for some reflection, lately been either sick(flu) or fighting fatigue to get work done while sick with the flu.. one of my favorite pastimes is to tune into jwd and read all your arguements for and against things of the paranormal nature, mysticism, evolution, and things like these.

i do enjoy those that are of a scientific shaped logic and lean more heavily towards some of their well thought out replies, i see them as open minded for the most part, and know i would never be able to research to the degree they do the subject of evolution and patiently try to deal with some rather set in their ways creationist.

they have brought a wealth of information to our board, that no doubt help many rid themsevles of the god(of the bible) delusion, a rather mean and nasty delusion that many jws need to shake to make thier coming out of mind control more complete.. while i have given up on the god delusion pretty completely, i have not become a complete materialist.

JamesThomas

Narkissos:

I believe we are all writing on the sand.
Knowing is cutting out pieces of "something" (being, reality, whatever) into separate "things" (of different categories like space and time, objects and events, etc.). Any "light" this process sheds on "anything" invariably results in obscuring "something else".
And the (non-)essence of this "light" is negation. We cast it wherever we look. Only against the negation of language do "things" appear -- offer an appearance or (sur)face -- as they seem to be.
Sometimes I think of languages and minds as beingworms: an army of "nos" splitting and breaking the unnamed like the worm does the earth; making it looser, smoother, more mobile or fluid perhaps; how our language-based technique does alter the so-called "material world" may be just an "aspect" of this process.
Or bubbles of "I am not" in the ocean of "being" -- the "outside of language" which we may never know better than the negation of a negation.

This is beautiful and insightful writing.

It seems the mind is continually cutting peaces out of the already whole-cloth of existence; and then wraps itself in its patchwork me-and-my-relationship-to-the-outside-universe. So, in the end, nothing the mind offers as "true" is the reality and actuality we seek; rather just more patchwork to reinforce the illusion of "self" and fragmented isolation.

Am "I" this shard of existence that seems separate and apart from all else? Can the minds frantic weaving be seen as it attempts to protect its patchwork creation with the thread of beliefs and thoughts of reincarnation and past lives? Am "I" what is believed to be? What is true? Who/what am I, really?

Perhaps sincere and earnest questions like these will bring an end to the dramatic story called "me". What remains, what IS, when there is no story???

You are That.

j

10

On Finding the "Truth"

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

on finding the "truth" a former jehovah's witness asks: .

what troubled me most as a jw was that how i could be sure i had the truth.

if you choose a religion and claim it as the truth, it's like saying you are smarter than anyone who believe other religions... imho.

JamesThomas

Randy:

I guess things haven't really changed much in 24 years, except that I guess I don't NEED it to be true, but still choose to believe it. It's "my" story, though someday I might be able to see it from a superior vantage point. If that ever happens, it won't be from deferring to someone's book, or story, or any other outside "proof." Truth for the individual should be internally intuitive. If you can't trust your own court of law, don't go seeking someone else's. Better work on your own and improve it.

Well said; and you pointed out an important key: recognizing "my story" is just a story.

Which begs the questions: What remains when there is no story? Is there an ultimate truth which unites everything when the divisive nature of my-story is seen through? How deep does the most real, intimate and immediate sense of being and existing go? What truly IS when all stories and beliefs are absent? What is true? Who/what am I, really?

As you implied, Randy; here is a path so narrow it's traveled alone. Others can not undertake the investigation for us, or give us what we truly are. At best they can only point the way.

I suggest that you will discover the superior vantage point to be right here, right now. Look into what is looking.

j

75

Believer, Agnostic or Atheist?

by lfcviking in

jw
friends

i am curious, what amount people on this board from their experiences of being a baptised & active jw and their subsequent exit from the jw org (for whatever reason or reasons) are now either agnostic, atheist or do some actually still believe in god?.

your honest answers please.. lfcv.

JamesThomas

Terry:

If we dismiss this identification we open up the possibility of being able to self-create by discovering our true identity. It is self-discovery and not an apology of misery.

Well said. Self-discovery rather than an apology of misery. I love it. It's right on the mark.

I just might have to pilfer that one.

j

104

Further incite on Dawkin's The God Delusion

by Abandoned in

jw
friends

i started a thread after i finished the first chapter of this book entitled something like, i'm an atheist.

i finished chapter three and i have to backtrack a bit, but i also feel the need to explain why since i was so vocal.. first, let me say that i think everyon should read the first two chapters of the god delusion by richard dawkins.

he brings up some very important points about religion and about science's place in our world.

JamesThomas

Blueblades:

Could you elaborate, if it's not too much that I am asking of you, how you have come to know that it was a "Glorious intelligence" That brought the entire universe into being? Thanks.

Good question.

I didn't come to know in the way that one intellectually gathers information and then coalesces that information into a conclusion. It was not a mental process. Rather a moment came when -- without effort -- it was clearly seen that the universe of phenominal existence is not separate from, or different than, the conscious beingness and Life which views it. Where the mind interprets fragmentation, there is actually Unity, a Oneness. When you see it, it's as if you always knew, because it's what you truly are. You are the Oneness. All is the Oneness.

There are no words or thoughts I can offer to convince you or anyone of this. I can not give you what you already are. It has to be seen first hand.

I suggest being present and silently watch the mind's thoughts and the connected emotional responses. Clearly see what is mental illusion. Also be aware of what it really feels like to breath and exist. In other words: shift your precious conscious attention out of the story generated by the mind, and more into the actual reality of the present moment. Become more conscious and aware of the actuality and reality of being. You are simply seeking what IS already true; so diving into reality is the door. A moment will arise when what is seeing everything, sees itself, and then, you know....and not until.

Honestly and sincerely question everything the mind believes about "self", God, and universe. Let the desire to know what is true, be your light. Trust that the glorious and wondrous Source and Sustenance of all life and things is not separate from what you truly are.

j

104

Further incite on Dawkin's The God Delusion

by Abandoned in

jw
friends

i started a thread after i finished the first chapter of this book entitled something like, i'm an atheist.

i finished chapter three and i have to backtrack a bit, but i also feel the need to explain why since i was so vocal.. first, let me say that i think everyon should read the first two chapters of the god delusion by richard dawkins.

he brings up some very important points about religion and about science's place in our world.

JamesThomas

Closer to the person? What about being the wood that is split, and the stone that is lifted?

I am, and there is no other.

Your answer is here, you just are not seeing it. j

104

Further incite on Dawkin's The God Delusion

by Abandoned in

jw
friends

i started a thread after i finished the first chapter of this book entitled something like, i'm an atheist.

i finished chapter three and i have to backtrack a bit, but i also feel the need to explain why since i was so vocal.. first, let me say that i think everyon should read the first two chapters of the god delusion by richard dawkins.

he brings up some very important points about religion and about science's place in our world.

JamesThomas

Leolaia, Thomas said it pretty well. I would bring it closer though and say: I look out your eyes as the wood is split. I feel the the effort and ache as the stone is lifted. I am, and there is no other.

j

104

Further incite on Dawkin's The God Delusion

by Abandoned in

jw
friends

i started a thread after i finished the first chapter of this book entitled something like, i'm an atheist.

i finished chapter three and i have to backtrack a bit, but i also feel the need to explain why since i was so vocal.. first, let me say that i think everyon should read the first two chapters of the god delusion by richard dawkins.

he brings up some very important points about religion and about science's place in our world.

JamesThomas

In other words: stop believing and be still, and know...
I'm wary of "knowing" too much. I haven't had good experiences with those who always seem to "know" things.

Yes, we are in agreement here. The knowing that I am referring to is not the knowing that makes you "wary", but rather the first hand realization which is too close, to real, too intimate, too immediate and alive to ever express or comprehend mentally or intellectually. It is a knowing, a conscious seeing and awakening which reveals the actual purity, peace and wholeness of your own being.

Look at it this way, there is a glorious intelligence which brought the entire universe into being without our intellectualizing or believing. It is THIS that is being referred to and pointed to as the core of your own being and existence (the foundational Core of all, actually).

Perhaps a better way to say it is: stop believing, stop knowing, and instead LIVE the reality of your own true Self.....which is here to see if you look beyond all that you believe and think you know yourself to be.

I understand that this all sounds kinda crazy. But when you see yourself, you'll know.

j

104

Further incite on Dawkin's The God Delusion

by Abandoned in

jw
friends

i started a thread after i finished the first chapter of this book entitled something like, i'm an atheist.

i finished chapter three and i have to backtrack a bit, but i also feel the need to explain why since i was so vocal.. first, let me say that i think everyon should read the first two chapters of the god delusion by richard dawkins.

he brings up some very important points about religion and about science's place in our world.

JamesThomas

I don't know where my beliefs will end up

When we take a keen look at beliefs, all beliefs, we can see they are mental interpretations at best. They are mind generated constructs which we can write upon a page. When it comes to our true Source, anything the mind offers up will be too menial and insignificant. So, why believe anything about God or rather what that word points to? As choosing life pointed out, why diminish it?

Beliefs have there place, but when it comes to the ultimate significance they are insufficient, perhaps even inappropriate.

I suggest not believing, and instead placing attention -- that would generally placed on beliefs and mind generated stories and illusions -- on to and into the immediate and intimate sense of being and existing in the present moment.

In other words: stop believing and be still, and know...

j

16

So tired...I feel like less than a sparrow (me)

by JamieL in

jw
friends

this is a nice big open board, thought i'd throw myself out there.. recently i had been a part of the "e-jehovah's witness" board.

especially as i don't think i even care that much anymore.

well, 3 weeks after that she cheated again, with a different guy.

JamesThomas

Welcome, Jamie.

You should be tired. You are attracted to drama, and so it comes. You are attracted to your tribal deity because you can relate to such a dramatic and chaotic guy. You're lost in the raging river of your own mind. You're a victim of yourself. There is no where to run because wherever you run, there you are.

Perhaps a time will come when you sincerely decide enough is enough. Only then will your life change. You are the problem, and you are the way out of the problem.

j

35

Hi newbie saying hello

by nikitaeve in

hi there, i'm nikitaeve and id just like to say hi to everyone here.

i used to be a witness and was one for about nine years but i still regard everyone with the warmest of feelings and i still believe the teachings.

a little bit about myself; im from england.

JamesThomas

Nikitaeve, so are you saying your deity has never killed and never will? It's the devil doing it? Are you sure it's the Bible you are reading?

What I am saying is when we support and champion a belief in a god which kills, as the Jehovah's Witnesses do, and as many other religions and denominations do, then we are condoning murder, and so equally guilty. You can sweet talk around it all you want, but it doesn't change the smell of death.

By the way, I am not heated or full of hate. A person can calmly express strong words. It's the nature of the subject, the nature of the beliefs of a murderous god which reek of hatred and insanity. Don't blame me.

Please don't take anything I say too personally. I am discussing what I strongly feel to be harmful concepts and beliefs. You, dear, are not your beliefs.

j